Pages

AR Rahman : People don't recognise him in LA

Busy that he is, AR Rahman sure knows how to balance work and family life. He's working on the film Monkeys of Bollywood, and his People Like Us soundtrack releases in June.

Apart from this, he's working on three Tamil projects (with Mani Ratnam, Bharat Bala and Rajinikanth), Yashraj's SRK-Katrina film and has just received an honorary doctorate from Miami University. Yet, when it came to spending time with his kids, papa Rahman wasn't found wanting for time.

The music maestro took time out to take them to Universal Studios on Sunday, and later that night, to chat with NT. Speaking to us from Los Angeles, Rahman said, "The kids had holidays, so there are here in LA. Plus, I had the doctorate and there were a few sessions for Monkeys of Bollywood too, so it all worked out." But, instead of taking them to Disneyland, where most kids want to go, Rahman took them to the studios! "My kids are very happy that I took them there," he said. But how does the Rahman family handle all the attention in public? "My kids are pretty cool," he said. "They know when to hide... they've been trained pretty well. When I am with my family, people tend to give me privacy. They don't ask for photographs or autographs." Though AR claims that he doesn't get recognised much in LA, on Sunday, when he went out, a West African family spotted him - it turned out they were his fans. "They were around 12 people. It was very interesting meeting and speaking to them."

But there's another musical project that Rahman his working on - the script of his own film. He says, "The movie under my own banner is going to take a while. It needs a lot of music implementation and it will be different, but also very exciting. It could take six months or even a year. Sometimes these things take time. They have to come together at the right moment."

There's no dearth of news in his life though. Just a few days ago, pop diva Madonna was quoted as saying that she was keen on working with the Madras magician. But quiz Rahman about it, and all he says is: "It all happened last night when someone sent me that story. It's still Sunday here, so I don't know much about it. I just posted it on Twitter. There's nothing else on it yet."

So how does he balance life spanning across two continents? "I think you learn to manage things when you're that driven. In Chennai, I have my friends, my family and my producers, who are all waiting for their songs. When I am in LA, I work with them on video. So, it all works out." For geniuses, it always does!